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We procured off-the-books contracts with a ton of government and non-government agencies. The Owls weren’t the good guys, but we weren’t classed as the bad either; we sat in that murky grey area. Burying bodies sanctioned by high up officials in the biggest government agencies always gave me an ego boost. They knew, and turned their do-gooder eyes away, blinded. They couldn’t take a sliver of responsibility. I got it; some people couldn’t deal with the blood on their hands but I wasn’t one of them.
“What is it?” I questioned, leaning back lazily in the chair.
With all our attention on him, Chris clicked a button and the projector screen behind him lit up with a selection of pictures. Two very clear faces that all of us knew in the room well, one person in particular.
“Fuck,” Preston muttered angrily.
I stayed silent, waiting for the details.
“As you can see. The two faces pictured are Mark and Presley Lowell, father and son. This is the start of the confirmation we needed.” He glanced at us all.
We’d just been waiting on photographic proof to match it up with everything else they’d been trying to keep hidden. They managed to hide their dirty deeds well, encrypting everything, which was the first massive red flag demonstrating they'd been up to something. We’d known they were a part of a larger problem. One which was of our biggest and most difficult cases to crack yet, and we were still nowhere near. But slowly, we were edging closer bit by bit. This gave us a little something we’d not had yet, a mini breakthrough.
“They aren’t smart enough to be the ringleaders,” Preston remarked, rubbing his hand over his jaw. “But that isn’t enough either.” He gestured to their pictures. He was right, it wasn’t.
“Thomas?” Chris inquired.
Thomas was our resident hacker, the computer geek who looked like a pair of deities mated, creating a man with model-like features, yet he preferred to stay hidden and to sit behind his laptop diving deep into the dark web.
“Nope, they are securely locked down. Must have their communications to do with this running through word of mouth.” He shook his head briefly. “Or they’ve got someone in the employ that matches my level of skills.” His fists clenched where they’d been resting on the arms of the chair in anger. “They have to be running it via an undetectable network, highly protected and encrypted. The only way I could access it is if someone gave me permission and invited me in.”
“No other options?” I pondered, and the look Thomas shot me would kill if I didn’t know how dedicated he was and how his frustration levels had been amped up by not being able to gain any traction. His computer skills were unparalleled.
“I’ve got notifications set up on the dark web for any hits in relation to all those we have under surveillance. Trust me, I’m doing all I can… this is fucking me right off,” he groaned, crossing his arms and slumping back into his chair.
“Thanks Thomas,” Chris told him genuinely. He’d been aware, like us, that he wasn’t slacking and that he took it as a personal insult that he couldn’t dig any deeper. Chris sat back and peeked at Dorian in a silent communication. He gestured for him to go ahead, “So, our next steps. We’re going back to the old show and tell.”
“We’re gonna confront them with the pictures of their faces, let them believe we know more than we currently do,” I carried on, following his wavelength and knowing the route he wanted to take. “Scare them, send them running and we pay closer attention. They know they’re being watched.” I approved. Genius.
We knew this secret organisation played in the strip club Fourplay. Whether or not they owned it was a mystery. We’d checked it out and what was on public display was legit, for a strip club. Most of the club was fair play for private rooms too and it’d mainly come back all legitimate, but rumours circulated of males and females forced to endure sexual activity they hadn’t consented to. Whether or not they were true was yet to be discovered, but that club was high on our radar.
We linked those reports and the information we found out back to this big case we’d been working on that was hot in the East Bay area recently. It had been for some time, but the hearsay gained traction and then we’d gotten ourselves involved. From what we’d identified already, we knew this ran deeply with big players across the state who’d most likely got paid employees within those trusted agencies, so we couldn’t fully trust anywhere or anyone right now. Due to this, we only had a few contacts within the official government agencies and only us Owls, bar a few others who were carefully selected.
“Getting them to lay the breadcrumbs,” Ronnie grinned. “Right to their doorstep.” His delight set off a manic grin with Drew, who looked ready to draw first blood.
Ronnie could manipulate any situation and wield it with the same sharpness as his flick knife. At only twenty-four—three years older than me—he was meticulous, with a long list of obsessive compulsions. I felt bad for any future woman he set his sights on; he’d mould the situation to his favour and collar her permanently to his side.
“That’s the idea,” Dorian spoke up, eyes motioning over us all. “I’ve also called in a favour with The Forsaken MC, the Westmount mother chapter of theirs.”Goddammit.One percenter motorcycle clubs; they were more trouble than they were worth dealing with, but it’d not been my call on this frustratingly.I would have shut it down.
“Oh, this shall be fun.” Drew smirked like the undiagnosed psychopath he was. All he needed was to rub his hands together like an old-fashioned villain to paint the picture. No one who valued their life would cross him, unless they were looking for a painful, drawn-out death.
Drew had a troubled past. He was the most volatile of the group and often joined Texas to extract information. Fully able to flatten any of us in the fighting ring, most of us tapped out so we could live to see another day.
Dorian sighed because he knew as well just how volatile he was, but Chris cut in. “No.” He narrowed his gaze at Drew. “The favour is for an instant favour in exchange. Thomas, wait in my office after, we need to discuss it.” Thomas nodded.
That was slightly better then, nothing worse than owing a favour to an outlaw motorcycle club who ate virgins for breakfast and used bones as toothpicks.
“That’s all for now,” Chris declared, calling an end to the meeting. “Preston, stay behind. A word.”
I sat in my seat to stay back with Preston as others filtered out of the room, not just because he was my brother. But because I was the leader in his team and any issues were things I needed to be aware of. Problems rippling through the team and eyes not focused caused issues, issues that in our line of work would get us maimed or killed.
“Are you okay?” Chris’ voice has switched from boss directing orders to fatherly concern, directing his question to Preston.
“Yeah,” he answered as he stood up from the seat. “I’m ashamed their blood runs through me.” And before any of us could get a word in, he stalked round and out the door. I blinked, looking back at Chris, who heaved a heavy sigh. But it wasn’t his fault. He brought us information and served it to us as necessary.
“Wouldn’t have made a difference if you pulled him aside and separately warned him before the meeting,” I reassured him. “He has his own issues with his dad and brother, as you know.”
“I know,” he grunted. “Watch out for him, yeah?”
